Devotionals

Fire and hammers destroy and demolish—so we should expect the Word of God to afflict our consciences and bring us to the end of ourselves. Yet fire and hammers also refine and shape—so we should expect Scripture also to purify ...Read More

In our lives, things often get worse before they get better. At such times, we can be perplexed at why God allows us to suffer while allowing the wicked to succeed. Such confusion can be an expression of faith as ...Read More

To ask questions of God in faith means asking Him with the willingness to be content with His answer or even if He never appears to give us an answer at all. To ask questions of the Lord in a ...Read More

When we see the wicked prospering and God’s people suffering, we may think the Lord is too slow in responding to the evil we are enduring. Yet God always works in His time, and He sometimes works in ways we ...Read More

Restoration requires faith in the Lord, but we are not able to muster up in ourselves faith that will persevere to the end. We need an atonement that covers even our unbelief, and God must create in us new hearts, ...Read More

It might be a clichè to say that we should “expect the unexpected.” Yet because God is fully sovereign, there is a real sense in which we should expect Him to act in ways we have not anticipated because His ...Read More

Answer 128 of the Heidelberg Catechism reminds us that the Father is “both willing and able to give us all that is good” that He might “receive all the praise, forever.” We should not doubt the goodness of God, nor ...Read More

Today, God’s special kingdom of blessing is manifested primarily in the church. It is through the ministry of Word and sacrament that we learn what it means to bow the knee to Christ as Lord. Furthermore, it is through the ...Read More

When the catechism says that God gives His Spirit only to those who ask, it is not speaking of God’s blessing of the Holy Spirit in our regeneration, which is His work alone. Rather, the confession is speaking of subsequent ...Read More

Giving thanks in all circumstances does not mean that we become thrilled with the prospect of pain. Instead, it means thanking the Lord for how He uses our greatest joys and deepest hurts to make us more like Jesus. Regular ...Read More